Quick College Trip.

In case there were questions as to where the heck I was on Halloween and then my Song For Sunday post, I was out of town for educational reasons. Reasons concerning my future, in fact. Yes, it is all finally coming together, or should I say crashing down? Haha, no, it's actually cleared the air a bit whilst also making my decisions for where to go that much harder.

Anyhow, I started the trip out with my mom and dad in Washington. I've never been there myself and was quite impressed by the scenery. The first school on my list was Western Washington University and may I just say that I indeed loved it. Bellingham is such a green, open, fresh, and beautiful area and the campus reflected all of those qualities. A school of about 15,000, it's not huge, but it's bigger than any school back here in Alaska. It seemed the perfect fit for me. And they have this little college part of WWU called "Fairhaven" that actually allows students to build their own major. Quite impressed, indeed.

So we weren't even there for the weekend before we were on a plane and  out to California, the land of my people and the place of my birth. Marlena Shaw's "California Soul" comes to mind every time I enter the freeway. We spent quite the amount of time visiting family and friends and of course there was shopping to be done. One of my favorite digs is the Orange Circle in Orange County, which is where we were staying. They have the neatest shops and the best food around. Southern California, baby!

At last, we visited the final school on my college list for this trip: FIDM. Immediately upon entering the pink decked room, one could immediately sense that fashion definitely was its focus. Upon my experience there that morning, FIDM is a smaller and highly specialized school for fashion. They really have excellent placement rates after graduating and the focus there incredible with results placing one right in the heart of the fashion industry.

NO PRESSURE or anything! I mean, one can see how the experience this weekend opened up my eyes to what I was looking at, but it also made the decision that much harder for me because I truly loved both schools for very different reasons. I have thus decided to apply to both (and the AADA) and see what happens then.

This is it though! This is my journey that comes with being a senior and putting on my big girl panties and dealing with adult-like situations. I'm growing. All I gotta do is take deep yoga breaths and organize my deadlines and all will be swell.

Bellingham, Washington.. Here, I explore the beautiful campus of Western Washington.

And there are so many quaint old little buildings scattered around the town. It's adorable!

My cousin introduced me to this new concoction: bubble tea. I guess it's like this blended tea frappe then those dark blobs there are tapioca balls. It's quite... interesting.

And would you believe it, we were caught in this torrential downpour of rain! Welcome to Washington.

Welcome to Orange County, California! Here, my dad and I pose next to a Fiat that perfectly seems to match my sunnies. 

Shopping in my favorite Orange Circle... many antique shops and vintage clothing stores galore.

Here, my dad and I snuck a photo inside of FIDM, before the interview and tour. Excited!

I definitely deserved this cappuccino and butter-finger gelato after an intense weekend. Seriously.